Feeling Your Emotions
Hello beautiful soul -
It’s March and I can feel the abundance of sunshine and warmer weather is upon us! We’ve had glimpses of Spring in Atlanta and I’m enjoying the transition into warmer weather. I’ve been losing extra layers of clothes, clearing out corners of my home and making room for everything to blossom. This is a great time for some Spring Cleaning – and not just cleaning out your home, but also an emotional cleansing. Just like we detox our bodies with juice cleanses and our homes with dusting and opening windows, we should do the same with our emotions to feel balanced and clear headed.
Mental and emotional health has a huge impact on our physical health. I see clients every day with complaints of chronic headaches, TMJ, neck & shoulder pain, high blood pressure, digestive issues, and lower back pain to name a few. When assessing my clients and digging deep into the root cause of the physical dis-ease in their bodies, the root cause is oftentimes not being able to work through emotions in a healthy way. Daily stresses, fears, guilt, sadness, anxiety, past break-ups & traumas – we all have them and if we don’t honor those feelings and learn to release them, they become stagnant in our bodies and in turn will cause our body to react.
The first step towards moving the stagnant emotion out of the body is to acknowledge its presence. Awareness is the greatest agent for change! How many times in the past have you heard: “Don’t cry.” “You’re okay”. We are taught to suppress our emotions and to present ourselves as if everything is “All good!” As adults, we bury our emotions, deny the validity of our feelings or distract ourselves through unhealthy outlets. Break ups and grief periods don’t feel bad because of the loss; they feel bad because we’re uncomfortable with the negative emotions. It’s ok not to be ok! Period. Feelings don’t go away because we ignore them, so start becoming aware if you’re feeling stressed, sad, anxious, etc and ask yourself, “Where is it coming from? What is causing it?”
Once you are aware of your emotions, it is now time for an action plan. Here are 5 ways to help detox your unwanted & stagnant emotions:
1. Breath-work: Breathwork is one of my favorite healing modalities that will take you into a deep state of consciousness that provides a fast-track to emotional healing. It originates the body, increases blood flow and helps relax the body, while releasing tension and calming the nervous system. There are so many breath-work techniques that help move emotions out of your mind and body. Square-breathing, 3 part breath, body awareness and visualization breathing are some techniques which I find to have profound changes to the overall wellbeing.
2. Journaling: If you are angry, sad, depressed, write it out! Journaling is one of the most therapeutic ways to get the emotions out of your cells and out of you. Your hands are an extension of your heart space, and being able to express your heart’s feelings will help release the heavy emotions you’ve been storing in your chest.
3. Put on some music: How many times when you were feeling sad and/or getting over a break-up have you put on some music, screamed out lyrics or moved your body? And what a release, right?! Music and dancing not only releases endorphins but also the movement allows your body to move stagnant energy out of your body. Singing out lyrics will also help express any emotions through your voice.
4. Take a yoga class, Thai chi or exercise at the gym: When we start moving the body , stretching and rehydrating the fascia, the emotions stuck in the web of the collagenous tissue will be released. Yin yoga (a practice that gets deep into the connective tissue) is an amazing practice for releasing deep emotions that are trapped in various parts of the body like the neck, shoulders, chest, hips and lower back.
5. Talk therapy & Energy healing: Going to see a therapist or healer encourages open and honest dialogue about issues that are causing distress. You can work in a safe environment while identifying and/or understanding how these stressors impact your life. This will then lead to developing strategies or receiving tools that will help you work through your emotions. And certified healers are trained to move these stagnant energies out of your system leaving you feeling balanced and calm.
As we transition into Spring, I invite you to join me for some of my free offerings including crystal healing, taking a deeper look at our Sacral chakra (the emotional center) and Spring Cleaning and detoxing your home’s energy.
Sending you so much sunshine and love,
Dena